


Quarantine

by shinjiteii



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Horror, Multi, Other, don't be fooled by the relationship tag, not romantic - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 06:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15455349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinjiteii/pseuds/shinjiteii
Summary: "The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."





	Quarantine

**Author's Note:**

> a certain someone isn’t mentioned in the story. i’m sorry. tbh i wanted to, but it is hard inserting him in idol-verse fics w/o being incorrect about events. sorry again. i might try to though, let’s see. there are mentions of m x m and woogyu in this fic, so if you are uncomfortable with any of that, please don’t read. and i know i have to update my other fic, but this was ready and waiting and i rarely have time these days..
> 
> also- my first sungjong centred fic. i’m so excited! he’s the only one i have not included in any otp as of now and our lovely maknae deserves a lot of love! have been wanting to write fics centred on him since a long time~

 

 

 

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

The sounds come repeatedly at regular intervals from behind him.

There’s nothing but darkness around him, and a drop of sweat runs down his forehead.

He stops, and the sounds of steps behind him stop too.

Putting one hand inside his pocket, he grabs the packet of pepper he has, in case he needs it for defence.

And then, taking a deep breath, he sprints from the place suddenly, not looking back anymore, and aiming to reach to a place with people as soon as possible.

Luck isn’t on his side, because it’s midnight and he’s in a pretty empty village. The shops are closed, there are no drunkards even, there’s nothing open at all.

He runs and runs towards a house where he can see that lights are on. Jumping over the gate, he bangs their main door as hard as possible.

The chaser is just behind him, because Sungjong can hear the sound of the gate being opened behind him, and he prays to the almighty that the residents of the house come out quick.

Just when he feels someone resting a hand on his shoulder, there’s a click of a door, and the door in front of him opens.

The hand on his shoulder is not there anymore, and Sungjong finds an old man, shorter than him, peering at him from the door.

“Yes?” The man asks.

“Ahjusshi please let me in. Someone’s following me. They are right here in your compound. They will kill me.” He begs.

The old man hardens his gaze, and Sungjong almost gives up from the glare directed at him, but he’s pulled inside with a strength he cannot believe the old man possesses.

The door is shut behind him soon, and Sungjong breathes a sigh of relief.

The old man is retrieving a gun from somewhere and Sungjong is suddenly fearful of him.

“I will kill that son of a bitch who’s hiding in my compound and chasing after kids.” The man bellows.

“Don’t go outside.” Sungjong hold the man’s arms. “I don’t know who they are, but they can hurt you.”

“I am not afraid.” Is the reply.

“Please.” Sungjong says, and he receives a resigned sigh in reply.

 

***

 

It’s three am in the morning, and there’s a party going on in the house.

Sungjong had been visiting his grandparents, in this remote village, and the old man who had saved him turns out to be his grandfather’s friend.

So Sungjong’s grandfather came to get Sungjong from there. Gramps and the man who saved Sungjong, are both drinking together like long lost friends now and though Sungjong is very grateful to the man for saving him, he’s not really fond of handling drunkards, and wants to leave from there soon. He’s had too many experiences of having to look after drunk men courtesy of his band members. He doesn’t want to relive the experience. Nor does he want to be reminded of his members because it’s been long since they have last met for drinks or just to simply meet and Sungjong misses them but he doesn’t want to admit it.

He thinks of the person who chased him tonight, and now he thinks maybe he should have caught a glimpse of that person. There are chances he could be followed again. It could be a crazy sasaeng, a robber, journalists or even anti fans. There are a lot of possibilities considering he is a celebrity and an idol at that, and not knowing why he was followed today makes him all the more nervous.

The experience haunts him and he wants to do nothing but run away from the place, and go back to the city, to his home, where there are proper security devices installed and where he can hole up for some time.

He decides against venturing out on his own and instead leans on the couch, looking at his phone, hoping to distract himself by reading online forums and social networking sites.

It’s been long since he’s read any articles regarding him, and he types ‘infinite sungjong’ into the search bar.

There are a few people talking about how they miss him and the group, some rps accounts which make him laugh and a few articles about the members’ activities. Infinite’s doing pretty well on the social rankings despite not doing much and Sungjong wishes he could return the same love back to his fans. His eyes stumble upon an article criticizing his variety sense, calling him overrated and he rolls his eyes heavily at that.

It still pangs a little, reading negative articles about him, but he’s used to it by now. There’s a comment criticising his speech and Sungjong feels his eyes watering up, when his phone pings to indicate a notification of a message from Sungyeol.

_From Yeol hyung:  
Hey how are you?_

Sungjong types…

_To Yeol hyung:  
Hyung what are you doing this late? You should be sleeping_

He waits for an answer. For some reason, Sungyeol takes five minutes to answer.

_From Yeol hyung:  
You should be sleeping too brat_

_To Yeol hyung:  
Fuck off_

_From Yeol hyung:  
Okay…_

Sungyeol doesn’t reply anything other than the ‘okay’ and Sungjong is anxious. He calls Sungyeol’s number.

_“Hello”_ Sungyeol’s grumpy voice comes from the other end.

“I am sorry Sungyeol hyung”

_“You should be”_

“I miss you”

_“What”_

Sungjong keeps quiet. Why did that slip out? How is he going to explain himself?

_“Yah Lee Sungjong what did you say”_

“Nothing”

_“You miss me?”_

If he has already heard it, why does he ask?

_“Sungjong ah?”_ Sungyeol’s voice is very soft and concerned and Sungjong can’t help but let out a sob.

“H-hyung”

_“Are you okay? Sungjong ah? Where are you?”_

“I-I am at grandpa’s place”

_“At Bukchon? Ah no… where was it… Damyang?”_

“Yes”

_“Are you crying?”_

Sungjong tries to wipe away his tears. He has not put on much makeup since he is not on any schedule, but the moisturiser he has put on is getting washed away. He would have to change the brand.

_“Hold on, I am switching to video call.”_

Sungjong wants to refuse, but the notification comes and he accepts it.

Sungyeol’s face comes into his view and the older is probably at his parents’ restaurant judging by the surroundings. _“Why are you crying baby?”_ Sungyeol asks.

“It’s nothing.” Sungjong says. He has become very good at lying by now, especially to his members.

Sungyeol looks unconvinced however, and Sungjong is also restless, so he decides to let his worry out.

“I was out shopping something for grandpa and someone followed me…” Sungjong narrates the entire story to Sungyeol.

After some time of silence, Sungyeol says, _“Did you talk to any of your friends? Someone might be free to accompany you for the rest of your stay there. To be on the safer side.”_

“I have not talked about it to anyone yet. I don’t think anyone’s free. They all have their jobs.”

_“Should I inform the company about it or will you…”_

“I don’t want to answer their questions. Please talk to them for me. It’s not like they will be doing anything anyway. They might even ask me to return if I tell them and I can’t do that. I have to stay here for the next week since my grandpa is alone. I won’t pick up the company’s calls till then.”

_“Okay. I will tell the others about it. You take care okay? And I remembered just now… I might be free the day after tomorrow since Daeyeol is coming here for a few days. So I might be able to accompany you.”_

“Really?” Sungjong is happy. He tries his best to not show his happiness or Sungyeol might think of it as him doing a favour and hold it over Sungjong, asking something in return from him.

But Sungyeol has noticed his happiness probably because he says. _“You should be saying thank you to me.”_

Sungjong wants to roll his eyes, but he is really thankful because he is very scared and there’s still one day more he’ll have to go through on his own here, but Sungyeol will be here after that and two people are better than one right?

_“I am joking.”_ Sungyeol says. _“I am bored anyway and have nothing to do. I might as well spend my time irritating you.”_

“Hyung” Sungjong whines.

Sungyeol laughs. _“There’s a fair there right? Let’s go there if we can and we can go fishing with your grandpa too.”_

“Okay. I’ll tell him you are coming. Thank you hyung.”

_“Why do you still look unhappy? Did you want someone else to come? You don’t want me there right? Don’t be scared, I won’t annoy you much. Or should I ask Dongwoo hyung? Myung is busy, he can’t come.”_

“No, it’s alright if you come. I am just… scared right now. What if that person…”

_“You remember all the self-defence and safety guides we are taught at the company right? Follow that. If you feel scared any time, call me. And don’t go out of the house unless absolutely necessary.”_

There’s someone calling for Sungjong from the other room and it’s probably his grandfather, so Sungjong wishes Sungyeol a goodnight and leaves to look after the mess.

 

***

 

It’s afternoon and the temperature is very low. Sungjong is wrapped in blankets on the bed, scrolling through his phone. His grandfather is reading the newspaper since Sungjong has requested him to not schedule any outdoor activities today.

Unfortunately, the water supply to the house is stopped for some reason and they don’t have enough potable water to survive the day.

His grandfather suggests that he will ask the neighbours for some, but turns out that the entire neighbourhood is having that problem.

So the two walk to the nearest store to purchase water bottles. There’s apparently shortage of water in the village so they don’t get much, but it’s enough to survive and they walk back to the house uneventfully.

Sungjong had thought of contacting Sungyeol before leaving the house, but since he was not alone and since it was broad daylight, he had decided against it.

He spends the day doing some paintings and looking up designing courses on the internet. He also practices his singing for a while as his grandfather cheers him on and makes repeated requests for him to sing his new solo song.

His voice is hoarse by the time his grandfather is satisfied but he’s happy and dinner goes by smoothly.

He almost forgets about yesterday’s incident.

But there are other people to remind him of that.

He’s still not told his parents or family about it, but Sungyeol has probably told all the members about it, because Myungsoo texts him a big message giving him instructions on how to stay safe, Dongwoo video calls him and they talk for an hour, even Sunggyu gives him a call and complains about how he has to work out so much in the army and that Sungjong would be exhausted in his place. They tease each other for a while until Sunggyu has to leave. Woohyun’s the only one who has not contacted him, but he has a musical schedule and he must have not received Sungyeol’s memo or it could be possible Sungyeol must have not wanted to disturb him.

Sungjong gets up from the bed once he’s done with massaging his grandfather’s legs after the dinner, and retrieves the bag of water bottles. He empties them into the container for use since they have not yet been required, the two managing from the supply they already had.

There’s something taped to one of the bottles and it looks like a USB stick. It is suspiciously attached to the bottle and it can’t be something accidental.

So Sungjong waits for his grandfather to go to sleep and then inserts the stick into his laptop. There’s only a text and a video file inside the thing.

Pressing play on the video, he waits for the software to load. The video starts with a blank screen, but after some seconds, there’s a blurry image of two people. He can’t clearly make out what’s going on until he recognizes the gender of the people as seconds pass by. Both are men and one of them is pulling the other and kissing him.

Sungjong thinks someone’s accidently left their drive with porn in the bag until the video becomes clearer and he recognizes one of the men to be Sungyeol. He’s so taken aback that he almost screams loudly, but he clamps his mouth and waits for the video to continue. The other man turns out to be a very popular actor.

Sungjong knows Sungyeol’s hooked up with a few girls and guys, but all those times he has done that can be counted on one finger and he knows every one of Sungyeol’s flings, since all members are supposed to report each and everything to their company. They are also supposed to be very careful about where and when they hook up with anyone. And Sungjong recognizes the wall behind the two as the one from their agency’s building.

So someone must have recorded them in the building.

Sungjong’s too shocked to process the video and by then a new scene starts playing. It shows Sunggyu hitting a girl.

Sungjong remembers the incident very well. A sasaeng had somehow managed to become their stylist four years ago and the woman had been harassing Myungsoo. She had been stealing their stuff and they had tolerated that only because the CEO had asked them to wait for one month till her contract gets over. But Sunggyu had stepped in on the sasaeng kissing Myungsoo while he was deep in sleep, and the leader had been too angry, which is why he had dragged her in front of everyone and hit her on the face. It wasn’t a hard slap and Sunggyu had even apologized to the crazy girl after the incident. The matter had been settled then, but this recording could be construed in a wrong way since it only shows him hitting her.

Then a third scene plays on the screen and there is Dongwoo dozing off. There is nothing problematic there but Sungjong notices the comic lying on Dongwoo’s belly. It is hentai… _Uh this hyung bringing such stuff to the practice room_ Sungjong thinks.

The scene changes quickly and Sungjong thinks the video has ended due to the dark screen, but it brightens slowly to show two people hugging each other. He recognizes Woohyun and Sunggyu humping against each other and Sungjong almost throws his laptop away having to watch that, but there could be more in the video, so he peers at the screen through his fingers covering his eyes.

He remembers the members talking about this incident some years ago. Apparently the two had been too drunk and had done some questionable stuff and frankly Sungjong can’t understand the relationship between the two even after all these years, but it is not like he is too interested in knowing about that, as long as the group dynamics are not disturbed.

But he is horrified as the scene progresses to them literally making out, sucking the other’s face and doing more inappropriate things, but before he breaks his laptop screen, the video ends, and he heaves a sigh of relief.

And then he realizes that this video with all of these stuff must have been purposefully put in his bag and taped to the bottles.

There’s fear growing in him and there are tears rolling down his eyes when he thinks more about it.

There’s can be only one reason for the video to be sent to him. His suspicions are confirmed when he opens the text file and it says-

_“_

_Quit your group and I’ll never release the videos. If the announcement of you quitting doesn’t come before ten am next Monday, these are going to be uploaded for the public to see._

_”_

Sungjong’s being blackmailed and even though this is not the first time he’s experiencing that, he has never been so afraid. He has been blackmailed once before, but that time the blackmailer had targeted the entire group and they were together in it. Now it is just Sungjong who is being targeted and sweat covers his body as he lies shivering on his bed from the fear.

His phone vibrates to indicate an incoming call, but Sungjong is not in the state of mind to receive it. He is blank and wonders what to do. Leaving Infinite- he has thought about it, but he had already decided on never quitting on the group during the contract negotiations. Now, after all the trouble of renewing he had gone through, to quit the group would not be pretty, nor does he want to do that.

The company would let him go, the members might let him leave too, in lieu of the video not being released. But the fans…

And Sungjong doesn’t want to leave. Despite the negative position renewing could have led him to, he had still renewed his contract with the agency and for his decision to go into waste like this, is not something he wants. And to dissociate from the group, that would be painful. To dissociate with Infinite completely, would make him go crazy.

He wonders why he is the one who is being targeted. And he realizes there is nothing of him in the video. There’s nothing the blackmailer has against him. But that doesn’t give enough reason to target him. Maybe it’s an anti-fan, who doesn’t like Sungjong?

Whoever it is, whatever purpose they have, they are clever. Because Sungjong is already decided. He is going to quit. If the alternative is damage to the reputation of other members, Sungjong would rather accept his fate and dissociate himself from everything Infinite. Of course, the group means a lot to him, but he wouldn’t ever consider it above the well-being of the members.

If the video were to be leaked, Infinite would be torn down by the netizens and media alike. Infinite would end then and the members…

Sungjong doesn’t even want to imagine how the members would be able to live after that, because he has imagined the scenario a lot of times- how it would be to have the public against you entirely. He has cried several nights fearing backlash for anything he or any of the members did.

Yet the images come to his mind. He tries to remain strong though.

First thing, he will have to contact the company, and inform them about the situation. Then the members…

He will also have to assure that the blackmailer will dispose the video off once he agrees to the condition. They couldn’t live with the fear of the video being released hanging over them all the time.

He decides to think about it tomorrow, but sleep doesn’t come to him. He’s thinking and thinking and though he doesn’t cry- he has accepted the situation, but he feels lonely.

The phone vibrates again, and Sungjong picks it up.

It’s Woohyun who is finally free from his practice and is fussing over the incident from yesterday. He nags at Sungjong to stay indoors, to lock all the doors and windows and to stay on alert all the time.

Sungjong is merely humming in approval. He wonders if Woohyun will continue calling him once Sungjong leaves the group. He might, but how frequently? Will the members slowly forget about him as time passes?

Not mentioning anything about the threat he received, Sungjong hangs up soon since he doesn’t want the other to guess there is something wrong and also since Woohyun is busy.

 

***

 

Sungyeol arrives at their doorstep with a backpack with clothes and accessories for two days. He lightens up the atmosphere with his loud voice and gummy smile.

Sungjong thinks his grandfather is annoyed by Sungyeol at first, but the old man slowly adapts to Sungjong’s tall bandmate in the same way Sungjong adapts- by playing with him back.

The two bicker a lot and Sungjong feels like he’s left to fend for himself on his own. At other times, he would have liked that. He would have spent his time looking up the new fashion trends while free, but now the loneliness is killing him.

He wants Sungyeol to talk to him, he wants to play with Sungyeol, do anything with him. He wants to cry, wants to share about the note he received, wants to remind the other about how he had promised Sungjong a year ago that they were going to be in this together, that they were going to remain Infinite and exist till infinity.

But they can’t do that now. Sungjong can’t do that. He wants to shake Sungyeol and ask him why the hell he had to kiss that actor and be recorded by some bastard. But no one is to blame for that. Sungjong is just lucky enough to not be caught on camera. He can’t blame Sungyeol for it.

But he wants to, because it hurts so much and he has no one to share his pain with. He wants to go back to his home, talk with his dog. He wants to go cycle fifteen rounds next to the Han River so the exhaustion catches him and he can’t think anymore. He wants to hate the members, but he doesn’t.

Instead he just locks himself in a room for an hour.

When he comes out, there are two pairs of worried eyes on him. He says that he was just too emotional for some reason and needed some alone time.

His grandfather looks really concerned but doesn’t say anything because he’s not sure what to do, Sungjong knows. Sungyeol however is analysing him with his sharp gaze, and Sungjong is scared of what Sungyeol might say.

But nothing out of ordinary happens.

Sungyeol spends the rest of the day and the day after that with them peacefully. The three play games together, talk about politics, sports and food. Sungyeol and Sungjong even cook some bland meal together which his grandfather compliments them for.

Sungjong enjoys more than what he had expected.

The two set off for Seoul together when Sungjong’s grandmother returns from her trip to her maternal home.

On the bus back, Sungyeol sits next to him and asks him if everything is alright and if Sungjong still thinks that there can be any problems.

Sungjong lies through his teeth.

He thinks he has succeeded in deceiving the older.

No one is fooled.

 

 

 


End file.
